Farmers Insurance Open 2021: Course and current form guides ahead of Torrey Pines

Another week in California, as the PGA Tour departs the desert for the coast and arrives in San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open.

The cliff top 'links' of Torrey Pines will once again host the tournament, with the players teeing-up on the club's two courses - North and South.

The South will reappear on the calendar in mid-June when it stages the US Open for a second time in 13 years.

As is tradition with this event, the golfers will play one round on each course on Thursday and Friday, with the South taking charge on days three and four.

Historic venue

So many of golf's greatest names have triumphed here over the past five decades.

Tiger Woods has won at Torrey Pines eight times - including the 2008 US Open - while Phil Mickelson has enjoyed a trio of successes here.

Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson are two-time champions while more recent winners include Jason Day, Justin Rose and Jon Rahm.

On the tee

This tournament usually attracts a strong field, with this week's contingent containing half of the world's top 20.

'Top seed' Jon Rahm is a former winner here, and was runner-up 12 months ago, while Rory McIlory dashes back across the Atlantic to tee-up at a venue where has twice finished inside the top-five.

However, the Northern Irishman will probably still feel a little scarred by his final round performance in Abu Dhabi where he teed-up on Sunday as leader, only to finish third.

Other course specialists include Tony Finau, Marc Leishman, Brandt Snedeker and Charles Howell.

Finau is still awaiting a second PGA Tour title - the first arrived almost five years ago - and he travels to Torrey Pines on the back of another strong performance at PGA West.

The American closed with a 68 on Sunday, a round that included six birdies and two bogeys.

Check out the latest betting ahead of this week's Farmers Insurance Open

During the most recent five-year period (2016-20), no other regular Tour venue had a tournament Driving Accuracy average (for those completing at least 54 holes) as low as Torrey Pines (52.24%).

Last year's champion Marc Leishman found just 48.2% of fairways but still hit 72.2% of greens.

All of which suggests the rough is not too damaging, with more importance attached to approach shots, and especially on the South Course where the greens are reasonably small and harder to locate.

Course details

Torrey Pines, situated around 16 miles north of downtown San Diego, is one of golf's most iconic venues.

It's certainly a location that demands an ability to survive the elements which usually blows in from the Pacific.

Torrey is a municipal venue which first staged PGA Tour golf in 1968. Opened nine years earlier, the South course has twice been renovated by Rees Jones, the first time in 2001, the second just a couple of years ago.

This latest upgrade, to ensure it is ready to host the 2021 US Open, lengthened the course to around 7,700 yards.

US Open betting

A number of greens were relocated closer to hazards, such as canyons, while every putting surface was re-contoured to provide multiple pin positions.

The South's undulating greens, which were converted to Bentgrass during Jones's first re-design, have now been returned to Poa Annua. They are also smaller than their counterparts on the North.

Meanwhile, the North underwent an extensive facelift in 2016 at the hands of former Open champion Tom Weiskopf.

The greens were enlarged by approximately 20-30% per-cent, and are now around 6,400 square feet, while the original Poa Annua putting surfaces have been switched to Bentgrass.

He also reversed the two nines, so that the more scenic holes now appear during the second half of the round.

Although both are par 72s, the South is around 450 yards longer and considerably tougher - it usually averages around two strokes per round higher. Water is not an issue on either course.

Course Comparisons (2016-20)

Driving Accuracy (%)
73.88: Sea Island (RSM Classic) (1/29)
52.92: Silverado (Safeway Open) (28/29)
52.24: Torrey Pines (Farmers Insurance) (29/29)

Greens in Regulation (%)
75.98: Sedgefield (Wyndham) (1/29)
66.81: Torrey Pines (Farmers Insurance Open) (17/29)
58.99: Innisbrook (Valspar) (29/29)

Putting (GiR)
1.664: PGA West (host) (American Express) (1/29)
1.775: Torrey Pines (Farmers Insurance Open) (27/29)
2.668: Augusta National (Masters) (29/29)

Key: Above stats are for all 29 courses which staged four or more PGA Tour events between January 1st, 2016 and December 31st, 2020. To qualify for a ranking (between 1 & 29), tournaments must have a minimum of 50 players competing over the final two rounds of the event. Averages do not include players who failed to complete at least 54 holes.

Torrey Pines Data (2016-20)
DA: (T10 - 53.36%); (Cat10 - 64.86%)
GiR: (T10 - 70.31%); (Cat10 - 75.41%)
Putts: (T10 - 1.721); (Cat10 - 1.662)
Key: T10 (Average for Top-10 finishers); Cat10 (Average for Top-10 in Category)

Twitter: Andy Swales@GolfStatsAlive

MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves